The Witcher 3 - any opinions or insight?

I'm 9 hours in playing on default and still getting my rear end kicked, so I don't think I'll be upping the difficulty settings any time soon, lol. Got destroyed by a group of freeking bandits twice. Gave up and moved on after that. Its absolutely a challenge. Very slow to find better equipment so far too.

Knowing when to dodge and when to melee is crucial. The monsters and bandits you fight are also dodging so if you get a little too melee happy then you're incredibly vulnerable. The most challenging monsters I've encountered thus far are probably the Drowners. They're only level 4 but they're attacks are brutal. They go down fairly easily though.

I still have a couple side quests to finish in White Orchard, but I'm close to moving on and I'm probably ~12 hours into the game.

Knowing when to dodge and when to melee is crucial. The monsters and bandits you fight are also dodging so if you get a little too melee happy then you're incredibly vulnerable. The most challenging monsters I've encountered thus far are probably the Drowners. They're only level 4 but they're attacks are brutal. They go down fairly easily though.

I still have a couple side quests to finish in White Orchard, but I'm close to moving on and I'm probably ~12 hours into the game.

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Yeah, as I mentioned earlier, I......well, Don't dodge in general, lol. In any game. I need to get used to it for sure in this one though. My gameplan is usually to overlevel and get the best armor I can, then win a war of attrition against whatever strong enemies I encounter.

I picked this up over the long Memorial Day Weekend. If you're into the sandbox style game play, you'll find that it's extremely addictive. It's basically a next-gen version of Syrim with a dash of Shadows of Mordor thrown in. That said, it surpasses both of those games as it offers more variety to the quests that you come across and an even larger and more expansive world to explore. The leveling system is both simple and complex, which is something that's difficult to pull off in an RPG. (As you gain levels it opens up, and you can reset your AP at any time through the use of a potion.) I'm currently at Level 7, and just into the second main area in the middle of the Baron's questline, but I have found that there is just so much to do. Just upgrading your weapons and gear is an adventure. There are some weird quirks - the looting / igniting thing can be a little bit frustrating, and the battle system is a bit clunky and lacks a bit of polish at times (that could also be my play style - I have a tendency to rush into things). What I like about the game is that it's as simple or complex as you want it to be. Just want to do the main quest? You can probably wrap that up in about 20 hours. Want to explore? You can probably put 200 hours into it and still have things to do. Too hard or too easy for you? Swap out the difficulty in the main menu. (I was playing on the second easiest, but switched to easy because I was getting slaughtered. I may change it back now that I'm getting the hang of combat) I also appreciate how the developer of this game is treating me as a consumer - I got a thank you note for purchasing it, which was cool, and there are no microtransactions, but instead 16 seperate pieces of DLC that will be dropped - for free - weekly over the course of the next 8 weeks. The pay-to-play DLC will add another 20 to 30 hours of gametime (an entire game in some cases) for another $25, so I'll most likely be picking that up as well. I support these business practices and hope other developers take note. Overall it's a really impressive game and is an early frontrunner for my pick for game of the year.

I've lost track of how many hours I've played, as the game doesn't seem to keep track, but I've played a few hours every night since last Tuesday.Last night, I went from level 6 to level 9 after completing what I think are the final few quests in the Baron story. I really like the game, but am still confused by it. The game is much more opaque about how things work with leveling, experience, items, ect than most other RPGs are. I've mentioned in other threads that game of the genre need to always walk the line between holding your hand too much (and seeming to baby you), or not enough (and throwing you to the wolves of confusion and frustration). While I think that last fall's Dragon Age Inquisition did a great job of straddeling that line, The Witcher 3 seems to me to go to far to the latter, and expect that everyone will figure out it's system on their own. Even with the 500 page Prima guide, I still am trying to figure out some of the very basics of how it all works.

It may also be that I'm still just early in the game, but since the first intro chapter, almost all loot that I've come across (either from killing enemies or finding in boxes) is essentially junk, and not something I can use, or even sell for much of a profit. And many of the scematics I've bought along the way are for MUCH higher levels than where I am. One piece of armor is for level 26+, and most of the swords are for around level 15.

I'm about 35 hours in and level 12. My only gripe with this game is the fact that you have to repair your armor and weapons. It's kind of tedious with armor, but swords aren't too bad since you can loot back ups in various parts of the world.

I'm about 35 hours in and level 12. My only gripe with this game is the fact that you have to repair your armor and weapons. It's kind of tedious with armor, but swords aren't too bad since you can loot back ups in various parts of the world.

A few visual hiccups here and there (PS4) but nothing too serious.

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Yeah, I actually had a sword break in the middle of battle without a backup. Sucked. I've been getting mine fixed almost every time I see a blacksmith now.

Article about XP and questing. Essentially, if you take on a quest more than six levels below your own, you won't get any XP. They refer to it as a bug, but I think its just how the game is set up. I noticed the other day while exploring and "cleaning up" in White Orchard, that when I discovered a bandit camp with a level 3 quest (I'm currently 13) that the loot that I was supposed to discover simply wasn't there.

On the flip side, when I first went to Novigrad, I was getting HUGE amounts of XP (sometimes as much as 700) for completing even quests that had no battles, because they were several levels above my own at the time. Right now, I've gotten my slate cleaned up of any quests below my own finally. I've tried and failed on a few that are a few above my own, getting my butt kicked by some enemies. I'll try again later. The main story seems to generally be just about right if you stick within a few levels.

Yeah, still loving this. So much to do, so very very much to do. It's an absolute blast. Still on hardest level, loving the challenge. I can now tear through most similarly leveled opponents granted there aren't too many of them. Rolling and dodging is incredibly important though. Happened upon a quest for Witcher gear which was slightly above my level. Had to grind the cave a bit (there seemed to be a respawning glitch that brought all of the dead enemies back after I saved and reloaded, took awhile to dig out of that hole), but now I'm well armed and armored.

Yeah, still loving this. So much to do, so very very much to do. It's an absolute blast. Still on hardest level, loving the challenge. I can now tear through most similarly leveled opponents granted there aren't too many of them. Rolling and dodging is incredibly important though. Happened upon a quest for Witcher gear which was slightly above my level. Had to grind the cave a bit (there seemed to be a respawning glitch that brought all of the dead enemies back after I saved and reloaded, took awhile to dig out of that hole), but now I'm well armed and armored.

I still haven't played House of Wolves

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LOL, and here I am struggling with enemies around my own level on the default difficulty level. I came thisclose to taking it down to easy on one mission after I died four or five times.

LOL, and here I am struggling with enemies around my own level on the default difficulty level. I came thisclose to taking it down to easy on one mission after I died four or five times.

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It's a commitment that's for sure you really have to pre-plan, and swarming enemies are a nuisance. I max my Quen and rely heavily on it, along with Igni to torch and lower their defense.

I'm a bit irritated by the alchemy system though. It seems bigger than previous game, but unless I'm mistaken I don't remember having to meditate to refill your potions in TW1 & 2? I'd much prefer to gather ingredients and mix a ton of potions as necessary rather than having to meditate. It feels like cheating (though meditating doesn't regenerate your life at the 2 higher difficulties). It saves from grinding to pick up ingredients, but meditating in the middle of a dungeon is weird to me. That's how I got in trouble when I was looking for the Griffin armor. I killed the baddies, had little life left so I meditated and they all came back via a glitch. Actually had to clear them twice until they stayed dead. That took a lot of deaths to get through. Wish I wasn't limited to 3 sparrows.

Does anyone know if the abilities progression stacks? For instance Learning early Igni causes the fire to ruin the opponents armor, the 2nd level of Igni sprays a steady stream of fire. If I equip the steady stream of Igni Fire does it hurt the opponents defense? And if not, can I cast the original Igni without having to unequip my fire? Curious on Quen too. Apparently there's a potion you can take that lets you re-configure your ability points. I'm considering taking it to rebuild my characters abilities to streamline them a bit.

It's a commitment that's for sure you really have to pre-plan, and swarming enemies are a nuisance. I max my Quen and rely heavily on it, along with Igni to torch and lower their defense.

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OH, i rely very heavily on Quen, and have used about 1/3 of my ability points on it (through 15) so far. I also use swallow and thunderbolt in almost every battle, and try to have the best oil ready on my sword too (though for anything other than humans, I'm still trying to figure out which one to use a lot of the time). Swarming enemies have been wrecking me lately. Groups of 4 or more humans and drowners around my level have been enough to kill me. I really wish that I could pause in battle and eat food/drink potions to regain health like in Skyrim. I know that's not realistic, but it worked as a good plan for me in that game, lol.

I meditate ANY chance I can get if I'm not at 100% health and/or have used a potion and I've got potential battles coming up.

Getting my copy today boys and girls... so much for waiting. I've actually been progressing Shadow of Mordor... which no doubt once I start playing this I'll forget all about. And then when I go back and finish, having to re-learn the controls will be inevitable.

Getting my copy today boys and girls... so much for waiting. I've actually been progressing Shadow of Mordor... which no doubt once I start playing this I'll forget all about. And then when I go back and finish, having to re-learn the controls will be inevitable.

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Mordor has much better combat controls and is a big game in it's own right; Witcher 3 is ridiculous. I fully plan on playing it until Fallout 4 comes out.

It's a commitment that's for sure you really have to pre-plan, and swarming enemies are a nuisance. I max my Quen and rely heavily on it, along with Igni to torch and lower their defense.

I'm a bit irritated by the alchemy system though. It seems bigger than previous game, but unless I'm mistaken I don't remember having to meditate to refill your potions in TW1 & 2? I'd much prefer to gather ingredients and mix a ton of potions as necessary rather than having to meditate. It feels like cheating (though meditating doesn't regenerate your life at the 2 higher difficulties). It saves from grinding to pick up ingredients, but meditating in the middle of a dungeon is weird to me. That's how I got in trouble when I was looking for the Griffin armor. I killed the baddies, had little life left so I meditated and they all came back via a glitch. Actually had to clear them twice until they stayed dead. That took a lot of deaths to get through. Wish I wasn't limited to 3 sparrows.

Does anyone know if the abilities progression stacks? For instance Learning early Igni causes the fire to ruin the opponents armor, the 2nd level of Igni sprays a steady stream of fire. If I equip the steady stream of Igni Fire does it hurt the opponents defense? And if not, can I cast the original Igni without having to unequip my fire? Curious on Quen too. Apparently there's a potion you can take that lets you re-configure your ability points. I'm considering taking it to rebuild my characters abilities to streamline them a bit.

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There is a merchant in Norigrad that will sell you a potion to redo your abilities. 1000 gold though. I did it once already as I wanted to focus on specific abilities - I wasted several points unlocking abilities I didn't really need or use.

I'm planning on focusing primarily on spells and fast attacks - this far since I rebalanced things are progressing a little bit easier, but I'm still getting killed every now and then, especially if I stumble into the wrong area.

Article about XP and questing. Essentially, if you take on a quest more than six levels below your own, you won't get any XP. They refer to it as a bug, but I think its just how the game is set up. I noticed the other day while exploring and "cleaning up" in White Orchard, that when I discovered a bandit camp with a level 3 quest (I'm currently 13) that the loot that I was supposed to discover simply wasn't there.

On the flip side, when I first went to Novigrad, I was getting HUGE amounts of XP (sometimes as much as 700) for completing even quests that had no battles, because they were several levels above my own at the time. Right now, I've gotten my slate cleaned up of any quests below my own finally. I've tried and failed on a few that are a few above my own, getting my butt kicked by some enemies. I'll try again later. The main story seems to generally be just about right if you stick within a few levels.

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That doesn't make a ton of sense though ... what if you accidentally skip a board and don't take the quest until later on? The game shouldn't punish you for exploring.

That doesn't make a ton of sense though ... what if you accidentally skip a board and don't take the quest until later on? The game shouldn't punish you for exploring.

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Well, thus far, I'd say that 75% of the Witcher contracts I've taken on via either boards or talking to NPCs have been well above my own level, and I'm leaving them in the quest que until later. Some as high as levels in the mid 30s. Almost none of the board quests I've seen in Velen have been below level 10.

Interestingly, and others who have played at least as much as I have will have likely noticed this as well, some quests end up being more/different than you think they are at the start too. I've met three different characters/friends of Geralt via quests given by boards or others that seemed mundane at first, and were entirely optional.

Yahoo can go stuff it, lol. I'm having plenty of trouble staying alive on default on quests even below my own level, thank you very much. I know that there are people out there who want a brutal challenge, and frankly that's what scared me about The Witcher in the first place - that it would be too tough for me to handle. I'm thankful that the regular level is right for my skills. I just don't have what it takes to beat any game on the highest setting, even ones like Mass Effect 2&3 that I played through 3 or 4 times and knew what was coming.

I'd still be in White Orchard getting killed by wolves had I maxed it out!

1) Play anyone who you can. All you lose is the coin you wager, and that is a max of 10.
2) Anyone you defeat will give you a card the first time. Though that card might be crap if they suck. If you play them again later and win, they give you something else from their inventory too.
3) When you see someone who you can play where the option is yellow, play them right away. If you lose, try again. These people will give you a "unique" card when you win (though its not really unique, its just your only chance to get that particular card). If you don't play them when you have the chance, you may not again later. You can often win a second other card from these people too.
4) Buy cards when you can. They're dirt cheap in the long term context of the game.
5) Don't use many more cards than you have to. The more crap cards in your deck, the lower the chance you have of drawing a good one.
6) The "element" cards quickly become less useful. I don't keep them in my deck at all now.
7) Don't be afraid to lose a round if it makes your opponent burn through their deck. My strategy is usually one of attrition, and winning the third game by holding back a few good cards.
8) Spy cards and "straw men" are both very useful, especially in hands where you are going to win or lose big.

Building a good deck takes time. I play a lot and only just recently got enough cards to use a monster or Scoia'Tael deck, and they both are so bad I almost never use them.

1) Play anyone who you can. All you lose is the coin you wager, and that is a max of 10.
2) Anyone you defeat will give you a card the first time. Though that card might be crap if they suck. If you play them again later and win, they give you something else from their inventory too.
3) When you see someone who you can play where the option is yellow, play them right away. If you lose, try again. These people will give you a "unique" card when you win (though its not really unique, its just your only chance to get that particular card). If you don't play them when you have the chance, you may not again later. You can often win a second other card from these people too.
4) Buy cards when you can. They're dirt cheap in the long term context of the game.
5) Don't use many more cards than you have to. The more crap cards in your deck, the lower the chance you have of drawing a good one.
6) The "element" cards quickly become less useful. I don't keep them in my deck at all now.
7) Don't be afraid to lose a round if it makes your opponent burn through their deck. My strategy is usually one of attrition, and winning the third game by holding back a few good cards.
8) Spy cards and "straw men" are both very useful, especially in hands where you are going to win or lose big.

Building a good deck takes time. I play a lot and only just recently got enough cards to use a monster or Scoia'Tael deck, and they both are so bad I almost never use them.

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To add on to this ...

Make sure you get the cards in White Orchard. You can get a second Commander for your Northern Realm deck (default starting deck - most likely your strongest) and he comes with a Clear Weather function, which can be very useful.

I do try to keep the Frostbite / Bitter Cold (Close Combat) Weather cards in my deck, as playing aginst someone with a Monster or Scoia'Tael deck can be problematic without it.

Load your deck with Spies and Medics. Save your Spies for later in the rounds when you need them. You can use Medics to bring back strong cards. Always fun to bring back another Medic, or a Spy. These can really turn the tables on an oppoent.

Hero cards aren't affected by either the Rallying Horn (doubles value) or Weather Effects. They also cannot be used more than once - when they are gone, they're gone for good. You can't use a Medic to bring back your Hero card, sorry.

A good strategy early on is to invest in the Seige Weapons using the Northern Realms Deck - if you get hit with weather you can use Clear Weather to get rid of it.

A.B.P. Always be Playing. Seriously. Check anywhere and everywhere for cards. When you find cards - buy them. If you want a good deck, make sure you're completing the Gwent quests as they come up. If you missed the cards in White Orchard or the Baron (as I did) you can go back now and get them, thanks to the latest patch.

I almost always throw the first round in an effort to get the computer to burn through cards. Nothing more satisfying then watching them waste Spy and Scorch cards for no good reason.

Keep your deck limited to your 22 best cards and a minimum of Support Cards based on opponent.

It will take awhile, just like the main game itself. I was running horribly until I started buying cards and swapping out my Pitiful ****ing Infantry with cards that were a bit more useful. My Northern Realms deck is now up over 100 as is my Nilfgaardian deck. Still working on the others.

Make sure you get the cards in White Orchard. You can get a second Commander for your Northern Realm deck (default starting deck - most likely your strongest) and he comes with a Clear Weather function, which can be very useful.

I do try to keep the Frostbite / Bitter Cold (Close Combat) Weather cards in my deck, as playing aginst someone with a Monster or Scoia'Tael deck can be problematic without it.

Load your deck with Spies and Medics. Save your Spies for later in the rounds when you need them. You can use Medics to bring back strong cards. Always fun to bring back another Medic, or a Spy. These can really turn the tables on an oppoent.

Hero cards aren't affected by either the Rallying Horn (doubles value) or Weather Effects. They also cannot be used more than once - when they are gone, they're gone for good. You can't use a Medic to bring back your Hero card, sorry.

A good strategy early on is to invest in the Seige Weapons using the Northern Realms Deck - if you get hit with weather you can use Clear Weather to get rid of it.

A.B.P. Always be Playing. Seriously. Check anywhere and everywhere for cards. When you find cards - buy them. If you want a good deck, make sure you're completing the Gwent quests as they come up. If you missed the cards in White Orchard or the Baron (as I did) you can go back now and get them, thanks to the latest patch.

I almost always throw the first round in an effort to get the computer to burn through cards. Nothing more satisfying then watching them waste Spy and Scorch cards for no good reason.

Keep your deck limited to your 22 best cards and a minimum of Support Cards based on opponent.

It will take awhile, just like the main game itself. I was running horribly until I started buying cards and swapping out my Pitiful ****ing Infantry with cards that were a bit more useful. My Northern Realms deck is now up over 100 as is my Nilfgaardian deck. Still working on the others.

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What he said

Great rundown. Keeping your deck as small as possible is as important as anything. My total number is usually around 26.

And yes, using a medic in round one is foolish unless you have to. I do use spies in round one if it gets out of hand though.

my only deck, the northern realms, has a rating above 120. I've completed the Gwent quests inside and around Novigrad, finding the high profile.. got a real nice Hero card at the end of that. My character just went level 14 though, so I'm sure I'm behind a lot of you with respect to the the main storyline

my only deck, the northern realms, has a rating above 120. I've completed the Gwent quests inside and around Novigrad, finding the high profile.. got a real nice Hero card at the end of that. My character just went level 14 though, so I'm sure I'm behind a lot of you with respect to the the main storyline

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You should be able to win most matches using a deck with that rating. I started playing it later on into the game and I'm bummed that I missed out on a specific card.

I'm getting really tough Gwent matches in Skellige. Even a lowly inkeeper on some island in BFE has a deck almost as good as mine.

Also really enjoying that there are sidequests that can take hours of gameplay to complete, and add a lot of depth to the story and RPG elements of the game. Not loving that I'm getting 5XP for completing them because I'm too high of a level, lol. But with my skill level, doing them earlier wasn't in the cards.

BTW - I've been playing this game for several hours (or more) almost every single day for a month now, and I feel like there's still so much more to do and uncover. That, as much as anything, is so important to me in a game, and I'm loving it.

I'm getting really tough Gwent matches in Skellige. Even a lowly inkeeper on some island in BFE has a deck almost as good as mine.

Also really enjoying that there are sidequests that can take hours of gameplay to complete, and add a lot of depth to the story and RPG elements of the game. Not loving that I'm getting 5XP for completing them because I'm too high of a level, lol. But with my skill level, doing them earlier wasn't in the cards.

BTW - I've been playing this game for several hours (or more) almost every single day for a month now, and I feel like there's still so much more to do and uncover. That, as much as anything, is so important to me in a game, and I'm loving it.

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I've been playing 1 to 2 hours daily, more on the weekends, since it came out, and I feel like there is still so much left to do. It's crazy how much gameplay there is in this game.

Or, more specifically, let's talk about my first round of Gwent in that High Stakes quest. (I'll talk about the details of the quest in the spoilers section below) I drew a Decoy, Scorch, and Biting Frost along with several Spy cards and an assortment of attack cards for my hand. I started out by playing a low number card (as I usually do), before moving into stacking the opponent’s hand with my spy cards. This player had a Monsters deck, so it wasn't long until I was losing by something like 28-6, with all of his cards in the front row, and me with a lowly siege weapon in the back row. He passed. What happened next was epic. I started by removing my 6 from the board using a Decoy. 28-0. I then dropped my Biting Frost Card. Suddenly the score dropped to like 9-0, with all of his cards dropping to a value of 1. Then I laid down my Scorch card. Now it was 0-0, and I had a deck of like 14 cards, while my opponent had something like 5. I played my lowest card down and took the round 4-0 and took the game without much of a problem. This was probably my single-most rewarding round of Gwent that I've played.

Curious if anyone has any other "Advanced Tactics" (like my Biting Frost + Scorch combo above) that they'd like to share.

And that High Stakes quest was just epic, from start to finish. A lot of fun. It starts out as a card game, continues as a fist fight (challenging too. although I've been doing the Fist Fight side quests - and if you're struggling in a fist fight I recommend using this combo: Counter - Light Punch - Light Punch - Light Punch - Step Back and repeat), turns into an impromptu investigation before ending in an all out brawl. Sure, the cards you get aren't great - but if you're playing in High Stakes by this time your deck doesn't really need much else - but if you play your cards right (heh) you end up with 4500 coins and you get laid. Sounds like a sweet deal to me/

Let's Talk Character Builds

I was initially going to use a hybrid signs/swords type of build, but the Griffin armor was just too ugly for me. So I went into Cat. Now I'm specializing in speed and efficiency, as I have all the Fast Attack abilities as well as 4 out of 5 of the Adrenaline abilities. Add in the bonus for wearing Cat Armor, and I'm usually 1 to 2 shotting anything that's a couple levels below me. Curious if this means I've overpowered myself - with the release of the Wolf Armor on Wednesday (as well as seeing what some of the higher level signs can do) - I'm seriously considering a respec of points. I may just wait until the end of the game before I experiment with other builds.

Curious what everyone else is using for their builds - I just liked the look of Cat, and fast and aggressive fits my playstyle, as I get impatient during battle.

Let's Talk Decisions

The one thing I have learned in playing the Witcher 3 is that Geralt is a player. Much more so that I am (mostly because I'm in a committed monogamous relationship with Mrs. VO, and she'd cut my little Witcher off if she caught me messing around) Not Geralt though, as I've bedded Keira, Yennifer, and a few others. I'm at the point now where Geralt is going to have to make some tough choices - Triss or Yennifer (or try for both, but I'm not convinced that will end so well). I'm leaning towards Yennifer just based on the available information from the game, and she's got that Kate Beckensale thing going on, but man. Redheads, am I right?

Curious to which lady everyone else is leaning towards, and if I'm crazy for taking the verbal abuse of Yennifer over the wit of Triss. I also need to know if the carpets match the drapes, if you catch my meaning.

Let's Talk Big Picture

Man, this game. I do wish that I got more XP and that it didnt' fall off on the earlier quests, or that the enemies would scale with my level. I have seen rumblings of a NG+ that might "fix" this, but it is strange that the enemies don't scale with my experience. Also, as hoarder, it's killing me to sell off all of these great unique weapons and armor that I run across. Those minor grips aside, At this point I'm thinking it's as good as Skyrim, maybe even better, as I don't have to worry about random Draqons or Vampires killing off merchants if I fast travel into town. I have been playing this for about a month now - as I mientioned before usually 1 to 2 hours a day with more time on the weekends - and I'm just now getting back to Kaer Morhen, which I guess marks the 50% to 60% completion of the game - and I have a million side quests and a ridiculous amount of "?" on my maps still to expore. Simply epic.

I have a griffin build. Almost all of my abilities are now in signs. I did a potion of cleaning or whatever it was awhile ago, and rebuilt my character. He's a wrecking ball. I maxed out quick attack (level 2, haven't opened level 3 yet), and out my XP into Igni, Yerdin, Aard, and the telekinetic one. I can routinely handle mobs. Do most of my fighting with swords, but whip out the sings either to get them off my back if I get swarmed, or to take down their defense, or boost mine when needed.

Question on character advancement though. There's so few slots, that I almost don't want to boost the "higher" level sign abilities. They increase the potency, but don't get me any new effects.

In my rebuilt I skipped Igni level 2 and went straight to level 3. I like wrecking their armor but I just don't have room for it. My question is, if I learn Igni level 4 and replace level 3 in my character build, do I lose my continuous fire stream?

That's the debate I'm having right now. I want to flesh out my physical attacks, but the signs are powerful, but to get their max effect you have to take up so many slots. As it is I only have 4 slots left. I want to boost Igni, Aard, which only leaves 2 slots. Would love to boost strong attack and get the 360 quick attack, I just don't know if I'm willing to lose 4 awesome sign builds for them.

Or, more specifically, let's talk about my first round of Gwent in that High Stakes quest. (I'll talk about the details of the quest in the spoilers section below) I drew a Decoy, Scorch, and Biting Frost along with several Spy cards and an assortment of attack cards for my hand. I started out by playing a low number card (as I usually do), before moving into stacking the opponent’s hand with my spy cards. This player had a Monsters deck, so it wasn't long until I was losing by something like 28-6, with all of his cards in the front row, and me with a lowly siege weapon in the back row. He passed. What happened next was epic. I started by removing my 6 from the board using a Decoy. 28-0. I then dropped my Biting Frost Card. Suddenly the score dropped to like 9-0, with all of his cards dropping to a value of 1. Then I laid down my Scorch card. Now it was 0-0, and I had a deck of like 14 cards, while my opponent had something like 5. I played my lowest card down and took the round 4-0 and took the game without much of a problem. This was probably my single-most rewarding round of Gwent that I've played.

Curious if anyone has any other "Advanced Tactics" (like my Biting Frost + Scorch combo above) that they'd like to share.

And that High Stakes quest was just epic, from start to finish. A lot of fun. It starts out as a card game, continues as a fist fight (challenging too. although I've been doing the Fist Fight side quests - and if you're struggling in a fist fight I recommend using this combo: Counter - Light Punch - Light Punch - Light Punch - Step Back and repeat), turns into an impromptu investigation before ending in an all out brawl. Sure, the cards you get aren't great - but if you're playing in High Stakes by this time your deck doesn't really need much else - but if you play your cards right (heh) you end up with 4500 coins and you get laid. Sounds like a sweet deal to me/

Let's Talk Character Builds

I was initially going to use a hybrid signs/swords type of build, but the Griffin armor was just too ugly for me. So I went into Cat. Now I'm specializing in speed and efficiency, as I have all the Fast Attack abilities as well as 4 out of 5 of the Adrenaline abilities. Add in the bonus for wearing Cat Armor, and I'm usually 1 to 2 shotting anything that's a couple levels below me. Curious if this means I've overpowered myself - with the release of the Wolf Armor on Wednesday (as well as seeing what some of the higher level signs can do) - I'm seriously considering a respec of points. I may just wait until the end of the game before I experiment with other builds.

Curious what everyone else is using for their builds - I just liked the look of Cat, and fast and aggressive fits my playstyle, as I get impatient during battle.

Let's Talk Decisions

The one thing I have learned in playing the Witcher 3 is that Geralt is a player. Much more so that I am (mostly because I'm in a committed monogamous relationship with Mrs. VO, and she'd cut my little Witcher off if she caught me messing around) Not Geralt though, as I've bedded Keira, Yennifer, and a few others. I'm at the point now where Geralt is going to have to make some tough choices - Triss or Yennifer (or try for both, but I'm not convinced that will end so well). I'm leaning towards Yennifer just based on the available information from the game, and she's got that Kate Beckensale thing going on, but man. Redheads, am I right?

Curious to which lady everyone else is leaning towards, and if I'm crazy for taking the verbal abuse of Yennifer over the wit of Triss. I also need to know if the carpets match the drapes, if you catch my meaning.

Let's Talk Big Picture

Man, this game. I do wish that I got more XP and that it didnt' fall off on the earlier quests, or that the enemies would scale with my level. I have seen rumblings of a NG+ that might "fix" this, but it is strange that the enemies don't scale with my experience. Also, as hoarder, it's killing me to sell off all of these great unique weapons and armor that I run across. Those minor grips aside, At this point I'm thinking it's as good as Skyrim, maybe even better, as I don't have to worry about random Draqons or Vampires killing off merchants if I fast travel into town. I have been playing this for about a month now - as I mientioned before usually 1 to 2 hours a day with more time on the weekends - and I'm just now getting back to Kaer Morhen, which I guess marks the 50% to 60% completion of the game - and I have a million side quests and a ridiculous amount of "?" on my maps still to expore. Simply epic.

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Awesome post, man. A few quick thoughts.

I've gotten very good at Gwent, when using my Northern Realms & Nilfgaardian Empire decks. I rarely lose, and just absolutely tore through the Skillege Gwent quest, though some of the random peasants on the Isles give me a great game. I use Hero cards liberally, as well as any spies I have. I typically keep one decoy and one horn in each deck, and my unit cards hover around 25. My "trick", as it were, is to make use of my medic cards often in the second/third rounds to bring back spies my opponent has used, and to generally always just win a war of attrition, holding back a few of my best cards until the end. I lose now and then, but I think that my deck is good enough that my strategy simply is overpowering most of the time. There are still good cards out there to be won though, and I want them!

I don't have a particular character build in mind, but rather just use the points where I need them and see how they will benefit how I play. At level 24, in the RED I have 5/5 used in fast attack, strong attack & Battle Trance, as well as 3/5 in the second level of fast attack. In the BLUE, I've filled up most of the first level of the signs, except for Aard which I haven't touched because I use it so little. 3/3 on the second level of Quen and will go higher when I can. 1/3 Yrden. In the YELLOW, I've got the light and medium armor, as well as the ones that add vitality. Will probably add the rest soon, as I've gotten to where I need them. Haven't done anything in GREEN yet. No real need for my style.

I've romanced Triss, Yen, Kiera, a spy from one mission and a few professional girls. Really wish that I could have Ceyres too. Really my kinda woman. That being said, I like Triss and told her that I loved her, sending her to Kaer Moren. Of course, the VERY NEXT mission I slept with Triss, which was funny and not intentional, but I like Triss a lot more of the two. Wish I'd have taken my time in the main story through Novigrad, because I lost the chance at more Triss missions, even though I waited until I was in the high teens (level) before moving on to the Isles.

XP has become an issue for me too. Lots of quests give me the min of 5. Nothing I can do about it. At least I've finally gotten to a point where more than half of my available quests are green or red. I'm completing as many others as I can for RPG reasons, and in the hope that some may open up new avenues. Also, most chests level up with you, so even a crap quest can give loot that I can sell for a profit!

Lastly, alchemy can be a real pain in the rear end, but I like the challenge! A lot lot lot of work to get a few of the potions I have recepies for mixed, but its worth it. Got my top end Swallow now, which I use every battle.